Love in the Time of Pharyngitis
by MissShepard
Summary: Lily is sick and has lost her voice. Her friend Marley keeps bringing her cups of tea. Sirius is taking full advantage of the situation. Will James? Who knew that a horrible case of pharyngitis could lead to true love? The story is in progress and will be several chapters long.
1. A Crooked Three-Legged Moose

**A/N: It was going to be a one-shot but just kept getting longer and longer… expect several chapters. The premise: Lily gets sick and loses her voice. Enjoy!**

Lily Evans had lost her voice. She had gone to bed Friday night with a slight ache in her throat. When she woke up on Saturday morning she was overwhelmed by the aching and the exhaustion. There was no way that she was getting out of bed. She tried to call out for help. Instead of words only horrible rasping sounds came out of her throat. She could only maintain her attempt at communication for a couple of seconds before it dissolved into a dreadful coughing fit.

A few minutes later, as she was hacking away again, Marley opened her eyes wide and looked around, trying to locate the source of the disturbing noises. She saw Lily's entire bed shaking in time to what she now figured were actually just coughs- they certainly didn't sound like any sort of human cough noises though.

"Lily? Lils! Is that _you_ making those vile sounds? Or has Whiskers eaten something he shouldn't have again?" The only response she got was more "coughing".

Cautiously, she pushed aside the hangings. Lily made another effort to speak. An awful noise emerged. Marley only said "Oh my," before retreating a meter out of shock. Lily started gesturing rather wildly with her arms.

After a few minutes of charades Marley finally figured that Lily was shooing her to breakfast and asking if she could bring some tea back. After repeatedly encouraging her sick friend to go to the hospital wing Marley got dressed and left for breakfast.

Lily dragged herself, still wrapped in her blanket, out of bed with a Herculean effort. She was already out of breath just from standing up. Then she felt the dizziness start to take hold. Oh boy, this was going to be a great day.

She stumbled around the room. She brushed her teeth and ran a comb through her hair a total of three times before she gave up. She grabbed a box of tissues, a glass of water and a handful of winter clothing items on her way back to bed. She collapsed on her bed with a silent groan. After a few minutes of regaining her strength she decided to dig through the pile of clothes to see exactly what the fruit of her spoils was. Lily now had:

-One right-handed brown suede glove

-One right-handed blue mitten with white spots

-One left-handed plain black glove

-A large red sweater featuring a crooked three-legged moose (an early knitting experiment of her mother's)

-a hat that was too small for her head

Lily eagerly put on the black glove, blue mitten and hideous sweater. She perched the hat on her head, where it was sure to both look ridiculous and fall off as soon as she moved. She exhaled with relief and wrapped her blankets around herself in a cocoon of warmth and comfort. Then she lay back, losing her hat in the process, to take a nap.

Marley was enjoying her waffles and bacon at breakfast when Sirius sidled up to her.

"Hey Marls, we have an extra practice today at 2. Our esteemed captain apologizes for the late notice but he only just got word about pitch availability. Apparently half of Ravenclaw has got the flu and can't fly without losing their lunches."

"Charming." She said as she pushed away her half-eaten meal. "Maybe that's where Lily got it from".

"No. No, that's not right at all. First of all, Lily, although a beloved firecracker of a friend, is not nearly as charming as I am. Secondly, since said fledgling of a friendship is only a couple of months old, I highly doubt she had picked up anything from me. Other than a few choice curse words perhaps…and a couple of confiscated dungbombs."

"Those are yours? I saw her carrying three bags full to the storage room yesterday evening, muttering under her breath."

"Which storage room was that dearie? It was so much easier when the caretaker wasn't visiting his mother and he was in charge of this sort of thing." Sirius asked innocently.

Marley raised her eyebrow and said, "Honestly, as if it would tell you! Lily went to a lot of effort finding the perfect spot for them. Anyways, I wasn't talking about Lily's charm; I was talking about how she's lost her voice."

"She's sick? Ah, it's probably from being in the dungeons. There are lots of cold, wet unpleasant things lurking, and I am not just talking about Snivelly."

"I doubt it. The potions classroom is generally kept quite warm… generally by the frequent explosions of Pettigrew's cauldron." Marley said.

"It'd be that drafty North Tower then. I keep sending the headmaster letters about it, but he refuses to address the blatant child cruelty."

"Some of those corridors are freezing but still not nearly as cold as outside. If James keeps insisting that we practice then he'll soon have a team of popsicles."

"Outside you say? Well the only storage areas outside are near the locker rooms, caretaker's hut and the greenhouses." Sirius grinned, "Almost all of the greenhouses are kept very warm throughout winter, making them excellent areas to sneak off to for a break from care of magical creatures or a quick midnight snogging session. The exception is the currently abandoned section of Greenhouse 4." Marley's lips tightened as she fought to keep her expression impassive. He continued, "This is because some irresponsible students smashed a couple of windows there a few nights ago, completely by accident of course, and no one has noticed… except for maybe a certain Head Girl who walks by it every morning. And just maybe she, who is friendly with the Herbology professor, realized that it makes an excellent spot for storage for contraband items." She opened her mouth to laugh and make denials. Sirius lightly grasped her arm and said, "Shhhhh. Enjoy your breakfast. I've got to run! Pip pip!" and left her dumbfounded at the table.

"Crap." Marley said. She was glad that Lily wasn't around to know how easy she had been to crack.

Sirius sauntered off, quite pleased with himself. He had seen Lily inexplicably around the dungeons, North tower and the greenhouses yesterday using the Marauder's Map. It was good to cover up his source of knowledge by making Marley think that she'd spilled the beans. It was also good to know that she hadn't been waiting for a bloke. That would not have pleased James. This was important because Pleased James ran much better Quidditch practices than Not-Pleased James.

When Lily woke up again a few hours she was already feeling a bit better, but was still unable to make non-frightening noises. She noticed a mug of tea on her bedside table. Marley had also kindly left a bunch of chocolate frogs near it. Lily munched on them as she contemplated her situation. She had quizzes on Monday morning in Charms and Transfiguration. She had meeting at lunch with the president of the Gobstones Club that she had been putting off. On Tuesday she had a prefect meeting. At this point she wasn't very worried because she was sure she'd have her voice back by tomorrow… tomorrow evening by the latest.

Lily became annoyed very quickly. She was tired of communicating through charades. She was tired of bundling herself up in more layers than were comfortable. She was almost tired of drinking tea. Almost.

That's because it was Marley's way of helping out. She never really knew what Lily was going on about with the hand waving, kicking and gazes that ranged from frustrated to pleading. So instead, she just always assumed that Lily wanted tea and was constantly bringing her fresh mugs full.

Lily sometimes used parchment and a quill, but it wasn't always very effective. Marley was very impatient. As soon as Lily started to scratch on the sheet she would start reading it, trying to anticipate the next word. She wasn't very good at it. Tired of the silence, she made up for it by talking more. More often than not, by the time Lily had finally finished writing something Marley was already on a different topic.

Some of the other Gryffindors were just uncomfortable with the whole ordeal. They didn't like speaking to someone who would only look at them and nod along. They started to avoid her, disliking the awkwardness. After Saturday morning she started looking for a more private place to do her assignments. She was chased out of the library when her sneezes annoyed Mme. Pince. She was chased out of Greenhouse 4 (the warmest of the greenhouses) by a particularly vicious plant that took a chunk out of her scarf. After a couple more incidents she finally found refuge in the kitchens.

Sirius showed her the way to get into them when he found her sitting miserably in the corner of the common room on Saturday night. The house elves were very nice and brought her more cups of tea than even Marley. They didn't mind her being there as long as she and her germs stayed by the fire, far from the food.

Sirius was the only one actually enjoying Lily's illness. He had repeatedly told her that it was great for their friendship. He spent a lot of time with her that weekend. He told her about the Marauder's exploits (because she couldn't tell them off), about his extensive opinions concerning sandwich toppings (because even when she was banging her head on the table he only took it as encouragement), a couple of secrets (because there wasn't a real danger of her repeating them), all sorts of jokes (he liked how the dirty ones made her face turned a little red) that were sometimes brilliant but sometimes horribly cheesy (using her facial expressions to gauge their effectiveness for future reference).

On Sunday night Lily was annoyed and feeling a little lonely after her roommates (other than Marley) had practically run in the other direction after spotting her. She finally decided to seek the medical expertise of Nurse Stamps. From their "conversation" Marley understood that Lily was going to go put in a mail-order for more socks. She was a little confused but decided it was a good idea for Lily to leave her den of disease and get some fresh air. Also, the girl could use some more socks. Marley personally kept forty-seven pairs and asked for more each Christmas. That way she easily delayed the inevitable washing as much as possible. With a fresh mug of tea and some encouragement, she sent Lily on her way.

Lily had only just left Marley when Sirius intercepted her. "Hey there Lily-pad". She grimaced. "Where are you headed?... nope, I'm not sure what that gesture means. I think that it may in fact have an incredibly rude meaning in Australia. Or maybe Germany. Have I ever told you about the time that James and I found ourselves in Germany? Well, it was summer after third year and James' mother had just asked us to buy some milk. James, being the twit he is…"

When he told the part about Helga beating James with a broom while he was juggling bread buns to earn some muggle money she couldn't help but laughing. The horrible raspy noise surprised Sirius who panicked a little and had to ensure that his companion was still breathing (albeit barely).

"Those healers keep telling us that laughter is the best medicine. That certainly didn't sound healthy. I guess they are a bunch of quacks after all. Have I ever told you about the muggle healer they took me to when I broke my ankle? He tried to give me these odd tall walking sticks. Clunches I think. Yes, clunches. He walked into the room, carrying a pair of long pointy clunches. I thought he was going to hand me one and challenge me to a duel..."

A couple of minutes and a few unable-to-breathe scares later the pair came upon the hospital wing. Sirius tipped his imaginary hat saying, "Milady," and walked off, whistling the James Bond theme.

"Now what did you say was wrong with you?" Nurse Stamps asked her again. Lily gestured at her throat and made an awful croaking noise.

"Ah, lost your voice? Well, you can have this bed. I'll be right back with a potion that may help." At this point Lily would be surprised if anything short of a throat transplant would be effective.

She started to look around the room but caught sight of what could only be her reflection in the window. She had to wave her arm a couple times, watching the other Lily carefully, to be sure. The other Lily had a messy red nest on her head. There was a small hat actually dangling off of it, one of its tassels tangled in the mess. Her skin was pale except for her bright red nose. In short, she looked awful. Why hadn't anyone said anything? Marley should have at least pulled the hat off- who knows how long it's been living there.

She frantically tried smoothing out her hair but soon gave up. It was a lost cause. Then she realized that she was still wearing the awful moose sweater. She groaned silently and vowed to never show her face in public again. Well at least James hadn't seen her.

They had become friends a few months ago, right before the end of last term. They hadn't spoken much over the summer, but she was delighted when on the platform he greeted her like an old friend. They had been working well together as Head Boy and Head Girl and Lily was surprised by how much he had changed. It reminded her of how much she had changed. She was longer the scared muggle-born perfectionist that needed to prove herself to the world. She was now much more aware of who she was and what was really important. It still annoyed her when Sirius described how they blatantly disregarded rules, but so long as no one was hurt by it, she now found the stories clever and amusing. Lately she had even personally found that breaking the rules could be very rewarding (midnight snacks from the kitchen came to mind).

Lately she had found herself thinking more and more about James. Whenever she did anything daring or crafty he was the first one that she wanted to tell. She figured that he would give her that mischievous smile of his. Or maybe he would ruffle her hair or tell her off teasingly. She remembered how once on her birthday a few years ago the Great Hall had rained waffles. She could never predict exactly what he would do, but she always eagerly anticipated it. She wasn't exactly sure why this friendship excited her so much, maybe it was the unpredictability of it. In any case, she somehow knew that it was a good thing he hadn't seen her looking like doll that had been chewed up by its owner's dog, spat back out and dressed in the ugliest sweater known to mankind.

The nurse came back a few minutes later with a tray. She walked past Lily, heading to the further beds. She called out,

"I have your dinner here! But you won't see a crumb of it if you've messed with the bed again! Expanding it to three times its size! Making it walk around the room! I can't deal with any more of your shenanigans today; I do have other patients Mr. Potter."

Lily froze. Potter? Surely…not Potter comma James… some other Potter. Maybe someone with the first name Potter! Yes. Some other Potter. Some other Potter who charms his bed. Some other Potter. Definitely.

She turned her head slowly in that direction. She saw Nurse Stamps reaching for a curtain to pull it back. A rush of adrenaline surged through Lily and she threw herself off the bed, landing with a painful thump. She considered the options. She could hide under the bed where she could fix her hair, or at least conjure up a hat (that would actually fit on top of her head, and not be dragged along by it). She would eventually be discovered, but at least she would look a little more presentable (hopefully). She would still be wearing the awful sweater though. That left option 2. Lily started dragging herself back towards the door to the hall. She started wheezing and coughing but refused to slow down. She was counting on the fact that Nurse Stamps would be distracted by whatever Potter had done with his bed (because surely he had done something or another).  
She was just thinking that she could make it when everything started spinning. She kept going, pulling herself with her elbows. Only a couple more meters….

"What do you think you're doing?!" Stamps cried out.

Oh no.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! I am writing this because I like Lily, lost my voice once and spent an awful 2 weeks in forced silence. Poor girl, will she catch a break? Keep an eye out for part 2! **


	2. Absolutely Lovely

"You can rest assured that the next time you come to my ward- and you will- I will not give you the privilege of a bed. You will be left on the floor or- if I am merciful- a hammock! This was NOT in the job description!" With that shout Nurse Stamp dropped the tray and turned around to stride out the door. She noticed Lily in a heap near the door and managed to bark, "Off the floor Ms. Evans. In my day children knew to behave!" before disappearing into the corridor.

It was silent except for an intermittent gust of air. It would whoosh one way and then the other in the room. Curiosity overwhelmed Lily and she lifted herself off the floor slowly. She turned to face the far end of the room.

The curtain had been pulled back to reveal a boy lying on top of a pile of fur. The fur moved up and down in time with the whooshing… almost as if it were breathing. Lily lifted her head a little higher. There he was, James Potter lying on top of a gigantic rabbit.

His eyes met hers and he called loudly "Lily! It's so nice of you to visit! I'm sorry that you had to witness that unprofessional behavior. You must forgive Ms. Stamp. She has been jittery ever since I got here yesterday."

Lily was still considering running out the door at this point. She could always say that her illness had made her temporarily insane. That seemed like a very good idea. She inched closer to the door.

"Lily! Don't you dare leave me! Do you know how dreadfully boring it's been in here? Me and Gus are exhausted from the tedium. I beg you, relieve my misery."

Over the past 36 hours Lily had experienced her fair share of frustration and loneliness. It wouldn't be fair to leave him alone in here. She found her feet inexplicably moving themselves in his direction. The corners of his mouth were threatening to rise. He said, "Ah! My savior! My Galahad! Pass me that carrot will you? The one Stamp dropped. Yeah, right by your foot. Thanks."

Lily handed over the carrot. James leaned over and placed it near the rabbit he was sitting on. He said, "Here you are Gus. Good boy." Then he transfigured "Gus" back into a seemingly-standard hospital bed. He left a little rabbit ear engraved on each of the bed knobs near the head of the bed.

"You really shouldn't tease her so. She's the only source of medical attention that this school has and that is something you often have need of." is what Lily would have said. Instead she had to settle for rolling her eyes dramatically and crossing her arms. She was suddenly very conscious of the hat that was dangling somewhere on her person. She tucked an arm behind her and started grasping about, hoping to catch it.

"Oh, come on. Did you see her face? Maybe not, you were a little preoccupied with a somewhat unique and very strange gymnastics routine. If I may give some feedback, the landing looked a little unrehearsed If you feel the urge to practice it again feel free to use my bed as a launch pad. It may be wiser if you stay on the bed this time." He padded the mattress next to him, moving over to make space. "Judging by the way that you are grabbing at your back you may have strained a muscle. Now, since I have deeply offended the only medical help in the school it would only be proper for me to conduct a thorough physical examination." He padded the mattress again and gave her exaggerated wink.

The corners of Lily's mouth lifted involuntarily. She suddenly forgot completely about the hat and the chicken-wire hair. It's a good thing that she couldn't talk because that wink would have struck her speechless. She walked the last few steps over to the bed and sat down next to him.

"What, no reprimand? No well-wishes?" he said. He gestured to his left leg demonstratively. Lily raised her eyebrows in surprise. She hadn't actually wondered why he was here yet. Maybe she was just used to seeing him around everywhere (he had always had an odd habit of conveniently turning up wherever she was. It was only in the last couple of months that she had actually started to appreciate it). She nodded her head in the direction of the aforementioned leg.

"Oh? You haven't heard? It happened during Quidditch practice. It was rather unavoidable and a little heroic. I was the first on the ground after practice and lead the march to the locker room. We came under attack by a very threatening monster. You may have heard of the dreaded "tree root". I selflessly threw myself at it to prevent it from attacking the rest of the team. I managed to escape it's clutches with nothing but a broken ankle. I've been detained in this bed by my war wound since then. I'll be out after Stamp's final check tonight."

Lily gave a wry grin and couldn't help coughing a couple of times.

"What is this? Have you been struck speechless by my heroism? No witty comment about how the brilliant Head Boy and Quidditch captain prodigy can't even master walking? I would have expected at least five reprimands by now. Well, three. You haven't been as much of an angel yourself this year. Marley may have mentioned a few things to Sirius."

Lily's eyebrows rose and her mouth dropped.

"That's right you little deviant. I know all about how you convinced Benjamin Horston that he was actually turning into a dragon. Now I know that he deserved it, after two-timing Marley and Suzanne, but I was a little surprised. It's always nice to see someone else in the spotlight fueled by wrathful fire in your eyes." He was smiling but his eyes seemed to grow a little sad with his last sentence. He ruffled his hair and put his hand down on the bedspread.

Some strange urge seized Lily and she reached out with her hand and placed it on top of his. She felt the heat of his palm and a tingle of excitement of excitement rushed up her arm. Almost immediately she jerked it away, reprimanding herself for acting so foolishly. She could have sworn she saw something pass over his face, but it was too fast to read. It was probably just shock over her strange actions. She blamed it on her sickness. It must be causing delusions. At this rate she need not dread her meeting with Terry Heaney the Gobstones Club President since she wouldn't survive until then.

James was only just barely a friend. Yes, he was very handsome and charming. She had seen girls falling for that adorably ruffled hair and charm all through their fifth and half of their sixth year. Inevitably they soon regretted it. During that time he had asked her out countless times and each time she had said no (or a variation thereof). She remembered how pig-headed he had been, how many times he had led her to tears (of frustration, anger, embarrassment, misery). She was clever Lily Evans. She had already lost Petunia, her former friend Severus, and last year her parents. She was barely managing to handle her newfangled friendship with James. She couldn't even think about something else… something more…

Lily got up to leave. She dusted off her skirt and straightened her sweater (although there honestly wasn't much point.

James cleared his throat rather loudly. said, "Really, It was very nice to see you. It's been dreadfully unentertaining in here alone and you are…" He paused suddenly, catching himself. He continued, "Well you're never boring. In fact… I find you very interesting. And quite lovely." His eyes seemed to become darker as they gazed into hers. Her eyes were practically glued to his. She varely managed to break his hold on her and turn away, coughing again. James, once more, cleared his throat. Then he continued "You are a radiant vision in your three-legged moose splendor. I really mean it. Absolutely lovely."

At this point Lily's cheeks matched her red nose. If she still had power of speech then she would have told James not to be so ridiculous. She may also have mentioned that rabbit fur suited him. Instead she could only make a mental note to write her mother a stern letter about homemade gifts and to, with all due haste, burn the deformed moose sweater. The fiendish disease-driven delirium seized her hand again. This time it ruffled his gleaming black hair, just as he had a moment ago. It really was remarkably soft. James looked a little dazed. Lily's cheeks turned even redder. She quickly turned to leave and walked out of the room with barely a hobble. It was amazing how much strength embarrassment could lend.

Unfortunately, after she passed through the doorway the strength immediately began leaching away. It was replaced by humiliation. She reprimanded herself. She swore that she would seek serious medical attention, for both her throat and her head, first thing tomorrow.

She replayed the scenario again. Then she remembered how he had called her "lovely"… "Absolutely lovely" in fact. "Absolutely lovely".

She was sick after all. Maybe she could stop thinking about certain topics tomorrow. By tomorrow she'd be all better. Until then it probably wouldn't be a good idea to stress or tire herself out.

Marley was lying on her bed, reading her Charms book. Well, reading the _Witch Weekly_ that was tucked into her Charms book.

At first she couldn't believe her eyes when something walked into the room. It was a moment (during which she tensed and readied her wand arm) before she realized that the thing was in fact Lily. Her face matched her mess of hair. She really should get rid of the ridiculous sweater. First thing tomorrow morning Marley was going to do her a favor and toss it out the window. Hopefully it would be snatched up and eaten by the Giant Squid so that no one would ever see it again.

"How are you feeling?" Marley asked, readying herself to make a cup of tea. When she reached for the box of tea Lily started to shake her head vigorously. She stopped a moment later, clutching her forehead in pain.

Two minutes later Marley was speculating about why Eve Carson had just broken it off with Andrew Llewellyn. Lily had finally located parchment and a pen.

Thirty second after that Marley was discussing how she had scuffed her new boots. Lily slid over her freshly inked response, "I'm lovely. Absolutely lovely."

Lily slid into her bed and spent the next hour pleasantly listening and nodding along to Marely's chatter.


End file.
